1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a stocking to be worn on a foot of a person, more particularly to a stocking having a folded portion with an open part which can be folded to expose toes or foot and which can be pulled to cover the toes or foot.
2. Description of the Related Art
In general, a dancer wears stockings with an opening so as to meet the dancer's requirements, for example, to expose toes for covering them with taps through the opening when performing ballet or to expose dancer's feet by folding a part of the stocking to an upper position of a leg of the dancer from the opening when performing modern dance or modern ballet (a stronger friction force is required) In addition, such stocking can be used for a common user who is likely to expose the toes or feet, e.g., to have a pedicure without taking off the stocking.
For this purpose, as shown in FIGS. 1 to 3, U.S. Pat. No. 6,415,488 discloses a conventional stocking 200 including a single continuous tube 210 which has a main body 211 and an end portion 212, and a securing arrangement 220. Each of the main body 211 and the end portion 212 has opposite first and second side edges 211a, 211b, 212a, 212b when they are flattened. The securing arrangement 220 connects the first side edge 211a of the main body 211 with the first side edge 212a of the end portion 212, and connects the second side edge 211b of the main body 211 with the second side edge 212b of the end portion 212 such that the entire end portion 212 is selectively foldable back on an upper portion of the main body 211 so as to be positioned to a top of a foot of a person, or a lower portion of the main body 211 so as to be positioned to a bottom of the foot of the person. However, the stocking 200 has disadvantages in that, when moving between the top and bottom of the foot, since the first side edges 211a, 212a and the second side edges 211b, 212b are connected with each other, respectively, pulling operation of a layer 280 (see FIGS. 2 and 3) forwardly toward toes becomes difficult, and the securing arrangement 220 (such as stitching) is likely to be damaged due to repeated pulling of the layer 280.
Therefore, there is a need in the art to provide a stocking which can be easily moved between a folded position and an unfolded position without damaging the securing arrangement.